The present invention relates to impact resistant and size enhancing brassieres.
The prior art reveals a long progression of devices used for female figure enhancement by enlargement of the appearance of the breast area. These have included liquid and gel filled brassiere inserts, inflatable air-filled brassieres, and a wide variety of other padding variations.
Some of the designs permit adjustment of the amount of enhancement as by variations in the degree of inflation; however, this requires the use of an air pump as part of the system. The gel filled insert pads are of a single size and must be exchanged for ones of a different size to change the level of enhancement. Liquid or air-filled bladders can be a problem as they have difficulty maintaining a desirable shape when compressed by elements of outer garments or when they are inadvertently impacted.
While air-filled enhancement devices have a weight advantage over liquid or gel filled devices, both types are air impermeable and therefore tend to impede the evaporation of sweat that might therefore accumulate in hot environments or during vigorous activities. Some of the enhancement systems are also quite expensive.
Furthermore, a basic packaging material includes a xe2x80x9cbubble wrapxe2x80x9d configuration, such as collar polyethylene, which is less impact resistant and has an annoying crinkling noise.
Among related patents include U.S. Pat. No. 146,805 of Cox, which describes a brassiere with air-filled pockets.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 2,697,229 of Krueger discloses an air-filled brassiere with pockets for cup inserts which are filled with air through a tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,721 of Kauffeld discloses a diver""s thermal insulating underwear with gas-holding bubbles.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,274,846 of Kolsky describes a cushion or pad for body parts, wherein an air or fluid-filled cellular structure is used.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,688 of Holliday describes a foam-filled sports brassiere.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,299 of Welsh discloses a horse jockey jacket with air-inflatable air pockets.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,985 of Lambert describes a cushioned sports brassiere with a hard internal breast plate.
Also, U.S. Pat. No. 6,131,196 of Vallion discloses a protective pad for knees with layers of bubble cushioning material.
Among pneumatic air pumped brassieres include U.S. Pat. No. 2,516,129 of Leo, U.S. Pat. No. 2,741,769 of White, U.S. Pat. No. 2,764,759 of Gazello, U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,656 of Fabritz, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,080,037 and 6,302,760 of Dai.
However, the prior art does not disclose a brassiere with one or more removable washable or disposable bubble wrap insert pads for size enhancement and sports impact resistance.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a brassiere insert which has both size enhancement and impact resistant features.
Other objects which become apparent from the following description of the present invention.
The present invention uses a brassiere of conventional construction with minor modifications. In a preferred embodiment, the cup area is double-layered forming a pocket on each side for insertion of one or more inserts therein. The inner side edge of each cup is left open with a small patch of hook and loop closure material is added. In this way, padding material to enhance the breast profile can be easily added or removed between the layers.
In another embodiment, the insert or inserts are placed within the skin-facing side of a pocketless cup of a brassiere.
In this invention, the padding material is similar to air-filled plastic bubble sheets that are commonly used for packaging applications. One or more such layers of a variety of bubble heights can be used to easily adjust the desired degree of figure enhancement. Since the air is sequestered by the bubble construction, there is no tendency to shift.
Also, preferably vent holes are punched in the flat areas between the bubbles so as to provide needed ventilation.
The problem with the use of actual packaging grade padding material for cosmetic purposes is the noise emission such as a crinkling sound when the material is manipulated or compressed. This is a by-product of the polyethylene material used in construction; obviously this is not objectionable for packaging applications.
For this application of this invention, however, an elastomer such as polyurethane is used to construct the bubble material. Although more expensive to produce, it is still quite affordable for this application. This material change solves the sound emission problem and provides a more supple feel to the inserts.
Each pad may be a circular or similar shape for covering the entire breast, or may be a shape having a width greater than its height, so that the pad can be used adjacent to only the lower portion of the breast, for figure enhancement.
Another embodiment of the present invention modifies the outer layer of the cup area to provide improved impact protection, thus forming a sports bra of similar construction to the cosmetic version.
Preferably, this impact resistant woman""s brassiere includes two fabric breast cups, each having pockets attached to a plurality of straps to secure the brassiere to a person""s torso, with a plurality of shock absorbing removably insertable pads of high tensile strength polymer material, such as urethane, having shape memory along with a plurality of disbursed air-filled bladders.
A scattered plurality of vent holes reduces sweat accumulation and promotes evaporation of sweat.
Fasteners are attached to the fabric breast cups in order to anchor the pads within the pockets, wherein optionally a pair of underwires are secured onto the lower portion of the breast cup.
Moreover, two or more pads may be inserted into each breast cup to enhance protection and simulate a greater bust size. In addition, a convex centralized area of the pad may be is shaped to resemble a human nipple.
The brassiere of the present invention can be used to protect the breast from shock by inserting one or more air-bubble filled pads into the fabric brassiere to absorb shock and by adding extra pads for increased protection and an enhanced bust line.